Despite the inclusion of a number of senior squad members in the form of Andy White, Stacey Long, Jake Sheridan and Lewis McMahon, Notts never looked near capable of causing a relative upset to their visitors.
In the swirling rain and in front of first team boss Gudjon Thordarson, the reserves struggled to cope with an the buoyancy of the visitors, whose relentless attack on the Notts goal proved too much to stop, with a lone goal from Wolves trialist Tommy Stewart offering the only brief period of shelter from the travelling Vale side's bombardment.
Stewart chipped in with a crisp finish around the hour-mark to bring the scores back to 2-1, only for Vale to unleash a further three goals in a relentless blitz on the Magpies' goal, pressure that Notts seldom looked near able to hold off.
As well as Stewart, Notts also included defender Conor Rafferty (Wolves) and goalkeeper Ben Kirkby (
As far as the boosted crowd was concerned, however, the most satisfying incident of the game was that of Ian Richardson's final whistle, as the former Notts veteran continues his transformation from the boot to the whistle, as he steps up his duties as a qualified referee.
For information on Ian Richardson's testimonial match later this month, see below.